The Changers are spending the weekend at our local music festival and since Spring has sprung here it has triggered a discussion on sunscreen safety. In other words, should we subject our skin to sunscreen chemicals or risk sun exposure/burn? Fortunately, there’s a third choice – non-chemical sunscreen. This is an important information for all of us, whether you like to hit the beach or just scoot around town by bike or bus. In fact, please don’t even consider waiting for your current tube of sunscreen to run out before making the switch. Read on. It’s big.

Studies show that popular chemical sunscreens may actually increase cancers by virtue of their free-radical generating properties. Commonly used sunscreen chemicals also have strong estrogenic actions that may cause serious hormone disruption in men and women, and may further increase cancer risks. Benzophenone is one of the most powerful free-radical generators known and when it interacts with UV light, it becomes even more powerful. Other common chemicals in sunscreens are estrogen mimickers and can cause feminization of tissues. Frighteningly, studies show that melanoma (and cancers like breast, uterine and prostate) has increased in areas where physicians have heavily promoted the use of sunscreen, such as parts of Australia.

Chemical-free sunscreens hit the market last year, the active ingredient going back to lifeguard basics – titanium dioxide, a naturally-occuring mineral that is an “opacifier” (white pigment) that reflects light and creates a barrier on the skin. Yes, the mineral does leave the skin with a white “glow”, to varying degrees, depending on the spf. I’ve found Dr. Hauschka’s and Aubrey’s brands to be effective without looking mask-like. Burt’s Bees and California Baby have also introduced similar products, the latter said to contain a “micronized” titanium dioxide which is non-whitening.

At least 35% of sunscreens (or anything?) applied to skin is absorbed into the bloodstream. The rest is rinsed off directly into lakes, oceans and our shower drains. Grist reports that up to 6,000 tons of sunscreen wash off in the oceans every year, threatening coral reefs and aquatic plant life and could encourage dormant algae viruses to proliferate.

Tags: environment, health, news

This entry was posted on Friday, April 18th, 2008 at 4:02 pm and is filed under Eco-News, Green Misc.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.